Ora M. Alger began the Alger Press after deciding to make a dramatic career change in the early 1900s. A schoolteacher by trade, Alger began publishing a weekly newspaper after purchasing the Embro Courier in Oxford County. The change in careers seemed to agree with Alger, as he sold the Embro Courier after seven years and purchased the Tweed News, a larger newspaper. While in Tweed, Alger expanded his focus to include commercial printing, as well as running another weekly newspaper, the Pembroke Standard. During this time, Alger’s
two sons Ewart and Stewart joined the family printing business. Although the business flourished, in 1919 Alger decided to sell his holdings in Tweed and Pembroke and move to
Oshawa to begin a new printing business. Alger purchased a small parcel of land across from the Oshawa Post Office and constructed a two-story plant. This new business focused on commercial printing. However, Alger soon returned to newspaper publishing and began the Oshawa Telegram. The newspaper was a success, switching from a weekly to a daily newspaper, Oshawa’s first daily newspaper.

In 1926 however, the commercial business was so successful that Alger decided to sell
the newspaper holdings to Charles Mundy and Arthur Alloway, partners in The Ontario
Reformer and focus solely on commercial printing. The company faced its first major setback when a fire destroyed the building. The company quickly built a new single story building on a location approximately a block away. A four-storey office building, the Alger Building, was then constructed on the old site. In 1936, the Alger’s began to feel as though they were falling behind other printing presses, as they had no lithographic equipment. After a research tour of various sites throughout Canada and the U.S., the Alger Press Limited entered into the lithographic field.

The outbreak of World War II saw business rapidly expand and it became necessary to
enlarge the bindery and finishing departments. Space was rented in the old Williams Piano
Building but this was only temporary. In 1946, the company happily accepted the opportunity to purchase what is known today as the Alger Press Building. This building had a long history beginning in 1903 when the T. Eaton Company of Toronto began the manufacturing of textiles in the threestory brick facility. During the war years, it had been home to the General
Motors War Parts plant. The company remained a successful entity in commercial printing and bookbinding and is known in Oshawa for printing the very popular Pictorial Oshawa volumes. However, this success was not ongoing and in 1993 the company declared bankruptcy.